Using the reconstructed royal treasury records for the trhee principal colonies of Spanish America from the last quarter of the 17th century to the first decade of the 19th century this essay constructs the changin fortunes of royal income and expenditures in these crucial American economies. The viceroyalties of Perú and Mexico an the Audiencia of Charcas were the principal sources of surplus revenues in the American colonies. Until 1700 the two Andean regions dominated the Spanish American colonial system in terms of generating royal income and in producing silver for export to Europe. But these soon declined relative to Mexico wich in the 18th century became to dominant economy and major source of royal income. The various royal revenues and expenditures and their performance over time are analyzed for all trhee colonies to determine the long term
trends in dieir growth and relative importance.